It's Not Just Putin's War

Ordinary Russians support their country's invasion of Ukraine

In an earlier post, I argued that a just and lasting peace for a secure Ukraine is good for Ukraine, Russia, and the Russian people. This war, like all wars, is not only morally wrong, it destroys the moral health of a civil society. As I said

…if you care about Russia and Russians, you want just a truce and a withdrawal of their troops from Ukraine. Leaving Russian troops in Ukraine is an invitation to terrorism. Russia retreating the pre-invasion internationally recognized boundaries of Ukraine, protects not only Ukrainian lives but Russian lives as well. This last point about how the invasion of Ukraine is not only hurting that country but Russia as well…

Yesterday, the Kyiv Independent posted an article that illustrates the morally deadly consequences for Russians as a result of their country’s invasion of Ukraine:

Of course, Putin bears responsibility for all these crimes. But he is not the one who is shooting, raping, and electrocuting people in Ukraine. This is being done by ordinary Russian soldiers recruited from ordinary Russian people living in ordinary Russian cities, towns and villages. The so-called “ordinary Russians.”

They go on to recount “recordings of intercepted conversations between Russian soldiers and their families and friends in Russia” that show the support of ordinary Russians for the war crimes being committed by Russian troops.

One soldier told his mother that they were killing civilians, women and children. She replied to her son that they had killed not civilians but "fascists."

Another told his wife how his fellow soldiers shot a woman walking down the street with a child in front of him. His wife replied: "Of course, she is also considered an enemy."

In another intercepted call, a woman (wife, partner, or perhaps sister) tells a Russian soldier how she would abuse Ukrainian children, carve stars on their bodies, etc.

Tragically, “There are dozens, if not hundreds, of such recordings. They clearly show how civilian ‘ordinary Russians’ support and encourage war crimes.”

In addition to phone calls, they report that civilian posts and comments “show their pride in their military and their support for the war against Ukraine.” They go on to say that based on their investigations, “behind the Russian war crimes in Ukraine is not only Vladimir Putin and a narrow circle of people close to him” but “hundreds of thousands of soldiers and law enforcement officers and millions of ‘ordinary civilians.’” Claims by “Russian opposition” and well-meaning Orthodox Christians “that Russian society does not support the war against Ukraine” is simply false. “The thesis ‘This is Putin's war, not Russian’ is shattered by the reality of literally every Russian war crime committed in the Russian-occupied territory since February 2022.”

If you love Russia, pray for their withdrawal from Ukraine and a just and lasting peace for a secure Ukraine.